Monorail-car balancing-truck.



No. 783,986. PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905. H. H. TUNIS.

MONORAIL UAR BALANCING TRUCK. APILIUATION FILED 13110.15, 1904 2 8HEBTSSHEBT 1.

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PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905.

H. H. TUNIS. MONORAIL GAR BQLANOING TRUCK.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.15, 1904 2 SHEETS-$11331? 2.

Miran Srrrrns Patented February 28, 1 905.

HOWARD H. TUNlS, OF \VINDSOR HlLLS, TVIARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN MONORATL COMPANY, A CORPORATIJON OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

WlQNQHAlL-CFNH BALANC INGI TRUCKn SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,986, dated February 28, 1905.

Application filed December 15, 1904. Serial No- 2S6,916.

T0 fI/ZZ whom it ntct concern.-

Be it known that I, How/inn H. .l.UNIs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Windsor Hills, in the county of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in h [onorail-OarBalanc big-Trucks, of which the Following is aspecilication.

This invention relates to improvements in balancing-trucks to be carried on the root of a car of a monorail system. in this class of railways a single rail employed on the roadbed and two parallel guidc-rails or balancingrails are used in an elevated position above the road-bed. Truck wheels or rollers are on the roof of the car and revolve in a horizontal plane and bear laterally against the elevated rails and serve to maintain the car in an upright position.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved construction of this class of truck that will contract or expand. as to its width to a limited extent.

Another object of the invention is to provide for a monorail system a four-wheel-car roof-truck and an arm hinged to the roof of the car to carry said truck so that said parts will be capable of the following movements and variations of position: lirst, yielding in a vertical direction more or less above the carroof; second, expansiblc as to width; third, tilting on its center in a vertical plane; 'l ourth, swiveling on its center in a horizontal plane, and, fifth, neither the hinged arm nor the pivot on which the truck swivels in a horizontal plane will have any sidewise movement relative to the car when the carsways or lurches sidewise.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figurel is a top plan View of part of a car,

showing the arm, one truck, and the guiderails above the roof of the car. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the upper part of car and showing one guide-rail, the arm, and the truck. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of a car and showing the single rail, the elevated guiderails, and the truck. Fig. 4.- is a view, on a larger scale, 0]. the combined swivel-pivot and vertically-tilting pivot. Fig. 5 is a bottom or under side view, on a larger scale than shown in Fig. 1, ol the expansible truck-bars and ex pansion-spring. Fig. 6 shows a side view 01 one bar of the truck. F ig. 7 shows the side stays for the arm.

in the drawings, A designates the bearingrail, which may be on a road-bed or elevated, as desired, and of any suitable construction. A structural upright angle-iron frame A, oi any suitable construction and located at intervals along the road-bed, supports a pair 01 overh iad balance-rails (l These rails are also constructed of angle-iron and, are suspended from a beam a. The two balance or guide rails (z are parallel and a uniform distance apart. in practice about thirty inches is deemed suitable. The car B is supported at either end by a pair of flanged wheels O, which are connected to suitable power mechanism.

The car may be of any suitable construction, but is preferably long and narrow and pointed at each end.

The truck presently to be described is carried at the free end of an arm 1), whose secured end is hinged or jointed at e to the root of the car in order to permit the free end to be raised or lowered vertically. This arm may have any desired construction, but its free end should have no sidewise movement with respect to the car. The sidewise movement oi. the arm is prevented by the two vertical stays f, between which the free end of the said arm may move up and down. Tlhestays are securely fastened to the car-root structure. The free end of this arm 1) has a verticallyprojecting pivot carried on a rock-shaft pivot 71/. (Shown separately in Fig. 4.) The ends of the rock-shaft are in bearings /1.. A bearin g-1.)latc g is fixed on the rock-shatt at the base of the vertical pivoty. A suitable spring 1' is interposed between the free end of the arm .I) and the root of the car B to keep the said free end raised, but which will yield to allow the free end to be depressed vertically.

Each car will be equipped on its roof with two improved balancing-trucks, one truck being near each end of the car. 3

The improved balancing-truck has two crossed arms, each of which is made of two plates or bars J, one above the other and separated or spaced apart, and a grooved rollerF is at the ends of each arm and revolves between the said two bars on a pin. arms are crossed-that is, one arm is entered between the two bars J of the other arm. The two plates or bars J of the inner arn1(see Fig. 6) are trussedor bolted together by bolts and sleeves 7), which cause the said plates to clamp the blocks between the said two plates. Both of the crossed arms have a central hole and are pivoted on'the said verticallypro ecting pivot 17, carried on the free end of the hinged arm I). The lowermost bar J of the crossed arms rests upon the bearing-plate g, and both arms swivel on their center in a horizontal plane. The crossed arms are independently movable to a limited extent on the vertical pivot g and are kept normally expanded, so as to force the rollers F against the two guide-rails a by two spiral springs b. These springs are shown in Fig. 1, but the construction of one spring more plainly in Fig. 5, which is a bottom view of the crossed truck-arms on a larger scale. Each arm has an angle-plateZ secured to it, and a bolt m extends across from one arm to the other and passes loosely through the vertical flanges of these angle-plates, and heads or nuts 7 on the outer ends of the bolt serve to restrict the expansion of the crossed truck-arms to a definite limit. Two sleeves 0 are on the bolt Wt, and when the crossed arms of the truck are pressed together to a certain extent these sleeves will 1 abut endwise and prevent any further compression ot the crossed arms. The spiral spring Z' surrounds the bolt m and the sleeves 0 and bears against the vertical flanges of the angle-plates Z;

A spring, bolt, and sleeve are on each side of the pivot g.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a monorail system, the combination of the single track-rail; two parallel balance-rails supported in an elevated position and in alinement with the single track-rail; a car provided wlth grooved wheels to travel on the i an arm having one end Q single track-rail; lunged to the roof of the car and its other end tree to make vertical movement; and a fourwheeled balancing-truck carried at the free 1 end of said arm-sa1d truck comprislng two crossed arms each 'arm carrying two wheels and the two arms being independently movable in a horizontal plane.

2. In a monorail system, the combination of the single track-rail; two parallel balance-rails The two l l l l l 4. In a monorail system, the combination of supported in an elevated position and in aline- 5 truck carried at the free end of said arm and with its wheels between said two elevated parallel railssaid truck being cxpansible in width.

3. In a monorail system, the combination of the single track-rail; two parallel balance-rails supported in an elevated position and in alinement with the single track-rail; a car provided with grooved wheels to travel on the single trackrail; an arm having one enc the car and its other end hinged to the roof 0t free to make vertical movement, and a balancing-truck carried at the free end of said arm and having four wheels which take between said two elevated rails, said truck pivoted to tilt on its center in a vertical plane.

the single track-rail; two parallel balance-rails supported in an elevated position and in alinement with the single track-rail; a car provided with grooved wheels to travel on the single trackrail; an arm having one end hinged to the roof of the car and its other end free to make vertical movement, and a balancingtruck carried at the free end of said arm and having four wheels which takebetween said l two elevated rails, said truck being pivoted at l its center to swivel in a horizontal plane. l 5. In amonorail system, the combination of l the single track-rail; two parallel balance-rails l supported in an elevated position and in alinement with the single track-rail; a car provided with grooved wheels to travel on the single track-rail; an arm having one end hinged to the roof of the car and its other end free to 3 make vertical movement; a vertical stay sel cured to the car roof to prevent sidewise movement of the free end of said hinged arm; and a truck pivoted at the free end of said arm a so as to tilt on its center in a vertical plane. l 6. Ina monorail system, thecombination of the single bearing-rail; two elevated balancerails; a car; a balancing-truck on the car for l sustaining the latter in an upright position, said balancing-truck comprising two crossed l arms centrally pivoted together and each arm carrying a roller at both of its ends, a spring i to keep the arms normally expanded, and means to restrict such expansion to a definite limit. I 7. In a monorail system, the combination of the single bearing-rail; two elevated balancel rails; a car; a balance-truck on the carfor susl taining the latter in an upright position, said l balancing-truck comprising two crossed arms centrally pivoted together and each arm carrying a roller at both of its ends to contact with l the balance-rails, a spring to keep the arms normally expanded and means to limit the of the otherarm, a pivot-bolt uniting thetwo compression of said crossed arms. arms at their centers, and a roller at each end 8. In amonorail system, theeombination of of the arms and revolnble between the said the single bearing-rail; two elevated halancetwo bars.

5 rails; a car; a balancing-truck on the ear for In testimony whereofI affix my signature in 5 sustaining the latter in an upright position, presence of two witnesses. said balancing-truck having two arms each HOWARD H. TUNIS. consisting of two bars, J, one above the other Witnesses: and spaced apart, and the two arms crossed h-IARLES B. MANN, J12,

10 by one arm being between the said two bars G. FERDINAND Voe'r. 

